Dear Friends of Theatre and Dance at GWU,
I need to ask for your assistance. As you know I LOVE Building J-our dance designated building in the heart of the main campus. It is an historic building which was actually a carriage house in the 1800's. This building is an incubator for dance, it has launched the careers of so many of our alumni, mine included! J has housed the creative processes of countless students; nurturing their concepts all the way to performance. I have so many fond memories of working in J: swinging on the odd structural bar in J up, rolling on the floor in J down, sweating profusely during class in the winter, running around folding chairs creating spacial designs, trying to find proper released hip alignment and looking for the illusive arabesque. Over 15 years ago, when I was a graduate student at GWU, I witnessed the student choreographies of Vincent Caccialano, Stacy Palatt, Heidi Rauch, and Heather Pultz. Years later as a professor of dance I proudly watched the evolving aesthetics of Mary Lane, Jennifer Caulk, Sarah Halzack, and Jadee Mitchell among others. Well, I know all our dance alumni have a fabulous cadre of stories to tell involving Bld. J. Some stories are filled with choreographic dilemmnas, while others have uproarous stories of joyous laughter. Well, as this fall semester quickly approaches, Bld. J needs our help. After all that work, it needs a serious face lift! We desperately need to sand and repaint. The past few seasons of damp, humid DC weather have taken their toll. We need to raise 6800.00 in order to be up and running by the end of August for classes. Jennifer Caulk who started our Dance Alumni Organization (DAO) has pledged 1700.00 from DAO to assist. What a fabulous generous donation! DAO has jump started our goal and given us hope. But we are only part way there with time ticking! I ask our alumni who are filled with as much love for J as I have to assist me in raising funds quickly. We need to keep the tradition alive and get J ready for yet another class of Freshman this fall. Will you send TRDA a personal donation made out to "GWU" our TRDA alumni organization with a note designating "for Bld. J/CAST"? Our address is 800 21st Street, NW, rm 227, Washington, DC 20052. You can also donate on-line but remember to designate your donation to TRDA and Bld. J specifically.
https://www.gwu.edu/online_giving/
Your donation is tax-deductible under the full extent of the law and what a wonderful feeling it will be to give back to dance at GWU. Please give what you can as soon as you can. I want to personally thank you for believing in the power of dance as a transformative art form and for helping us continue to house this precious performing art on campus. Please contact me with any questions you may have.
Warmest,
Dana dtsb@gwu.edu
Hi Dana/Fellow GW Alum- I just contributed $50 toward this effort... It's a worthwhile and critical project that will support the continued success of the dance department. Without Building J, my experience at GW would not have been as enriched and full. My best memories, friends, and contacts from undergrad came out of that building. Building J has seen decades of dancers grace its floors. If everyone from over the years chips in a little bit, I think we'll raise the necessary funds easily.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dana for the momentum you're building to carry this program to new heights.
~Jen Caulk
Class of '02
I'm such a space case today...I meant to write Class of '06!
ReplyDelete